Hm, my approach is a little different. I agree if you mean decent drawing skills. I can draw mockups, even with colors by hand, that look in some ways like the

Hm, my approach is a little different. I agree if you mean decent drawing skills. I can draw mockups, even with colors by hand, that look in some ways like the design i want. Then i go on(and cheat a little) and let a friend who is skillfull in photoshop cast it into pixels. Thats some kind of a pair designing process. He does some layers with different components from several mockups and we constantly play with the colors and styles we want, until we get the components in various polished forms. That way, we develop in a few hours, first digital drafts of our core concepts. Yes, drafts. Three is a good amount, i think. From that we select, probably with customers the best fitting one. Or the best fitting components from all three. Then we can go on and put a prerelease draft together. It's really a lot of trial and error, but in the end it pays off, i think. The thing you absolutely need for a good design process is enough inspiration and a open mind, in my opinion. That way drawing the mockups and pair designing the drafts, is a continous flow of good and better ideas until you reach what you need.